Removable guide apparatus for a rail-mounted device employed in a computer

ABSTRACT

A removable rail guide apparatus is provided for a disk drive mounting structure which is capable of receiving disk drives or other rail-mounted devices therein. The mounting structure includes a frame including a bay capable of accepting therein one first height drive or two second height drives which are smaller than the first size drive. The bay includes first and second opposed side walls situated in spaced apart relationship. First and second stationary rail guides are fixedly situated on the first and second side walls, respectively, to mate with corresponding side rails of the first size disk drive. First and second removable rail guides are removably mounted on the first and second side walls, respectively, at a distance spaced apart from the first and second stationary rail guides. The first and second removable rail guides mate with corresponding side rails of the second size disk drive when the first size disk drive is not present in the first and second stationary guide rails. The user is provided with flexibility in that a first height drive can be installed when the removable rail guides are removed from the bay so as to avoid interference between the first height drive and such rail guides. Alternatively, the user can install one second height drive in the bay on the stationary nonremovable rails and/or a second height drive in the bay on the removable rails when such rails are installed in the bay.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates in general to rail-mounted devices and, moreparticularly, to apparatus for mounting such rail-mounted devices.

Disk drives are generally mounted via a pair of plastic rails which arescrewed into the opposed side surfaces of the metallic cases of suchdrives. The rails ride in respective channels which are situated in therespective sides of a bay in a computer housing. Generally, disk drivebays exhibit one of two sizes. A full height bay accommodates a fullheight drive and a half height bay accommodates a half height drive. Itis desirable, however, to have a single full height bay which canaccommodate the user's choices of a single full height drive or two halfheight drives. Two pairs of channels can be situated in a single bay,one pair above the other, for this purpose. Such an arrangement willreadily accept two half height drives. However, it is possible that whena single full height drive is installed in the lower pair of channels inthis bay, the upper pair of channels in the bay may contact andundesirably interfere with the upper portion of this full height drive.This could damage the full height drive and subject such drive to undueshock and vibration

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide a drivemounting arrangement which permits the user's choice of either a singlefull height drive or two half height drives to be mounted in a computerbay.

Another object of the present invention is to reduce the incidence ofshock damage or interference fit damage caused to drives or otherdevices installed in computer bays.

In accordance with the present invention, a disk drive mountingstructure is provided for receiving disk drives or other rail mounteddevices therein. The mounting structure includes a frame including a baycapable of accepting therein one first height drive or two second heightdrives which are smaller than the first size drive. The bay includesfirst and second opposed side walls situated in spaced apartrelationship. First and second stationary rail guides are fixedlysituated on the first and second side walls, respectively, to mate withcorresponding side rails of the first size disk drive. First and secondremovable rail guides are removably mounted on the first and second sidewalls, respectively, at a distance spaced apart from the first andsecond stationary rail guides. The first and second removable railguides mate with corresponding side rails of the second size disk drivewhen the first size disk drive is not present in the first and secondstationary guide rails.

The features of the invention believed to be novel are specifically setforth in the appended claims. However, the invention itself, both as toits structure and method of operation, may best be understood byreferring to the following description and accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is an exploded perspective view of the computer housing,retainer and grounding strip.

FIG. 1B is a perspective view of the computer housing including a drivesupport structure therein.

FIG. 2 is a front right side perspective view or the drive structure.

FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view of the drive support structure.

FIG. 4 is a front left side perspective view of the drive supportstructure.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a drive support structure bay showingremovable guides.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing a plurality of disk driveconfigurations which may be installed in the drive support structure.

FIG. 7 is a front view of a full height drive installed in the drivesupport structure.

FIG. 8 is a front view of two first size half height drives fitted withadapter trays and installed in the drive support structure.

FIG. 9 is a front view of two second size half height drives fitted withadapter trays and installed in the drive support structure.

FIG. 10 is a front view of the drive support structure.

FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of a drive installed on theadapter tray.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the ground spring for a rail mounteddevice.

FIG. 13 is an exploded view of a rail mounted device employing theground spring of FIG. 12 prior to installation of the device in thedrive support structure.

FIG. 13a is an exploded view of the area circled in FIG. 13.

FIG. 14 is an exploded perspective view of the ground spring, rail andrail mounted device.

FIG. 15 is a bottom cross sectional view of the ground spring installedon a rail mounted on a drive, such cross section being taken alongsection line D--D of FIG. 7.

FIG. 16 is a bottom cross sectional view of the ground strip installedbetween the housing and drive support structure, such cross sectionbeing taken along section line E--E of FIG. 7 and showing the groundstrip and surrounding components.

FIG. 17 is a front perspective view of the ground strip of FIG. 16.

FIG. 18 is a rear perspective view of the ground strip of FIG. 16.

FIG. 19A is a front right side exploded perspective view showing thehousing/drive support structure, the retainer and bezel.

FIG. 19B is a rear left side perspective view of the retainer of FIG.19A.

FIG. 20 is the bottom cross sectional view showing the ground strip ofFIG. 16 and surrounding components including an adapter tray mounteddrive.

FIG. 21 is a front right side perspective view of the retainer.

FIG. 22 is a side cross sectional view which show a snap member of thedrive support structure.

FIG. 23 is a side cross sectional view of the computer housing/drivesupport assembly showing the initial stage of installation of theretainer on the assembly.

FIG. 23a is an exploded view of the cover connection.

FIG. 24 is a side cross sectional view of the computer housing/drivesupport assembly showing an intermediate stage of installation of theretainer on the assembly.

FIGS. 24a and 24b are exploded views of the connection between thecabinet and cover.

FIG. 25 is a side cross sectional view of the computer housing/drivesupport assembly showing the final stage of installation of the retaineron the assembly wherein installation in complete.

FIGS. 25a-c are exploded view of the connection between the cabinet andcover.

FIG. 26 is a rear perspective view of the bezel for the retainer.

FIG. 27 is a side view of the computer housing showing the retainer andbezel prior to installation on the housing.

FIG. 28 is a side cross sectional view showing the upper portion of thebezel during installation on the computer housing.

FIG. 29 is a side cross sectional view showing the upper portion of thebezel after installation on the computer housing is complete.

FIG. 30 a side cross sectional view showing the lower portion of thebezel after installation on the computer housing is complete.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1A is an exploded perspective view of a personal computer assembly10 which includes an enclosure or case 15 and a disk drive supportstructure 20. Case 15 is fabricated from electrically conductivematerial and exhibits a generally parallelepiped shape. Morespecifically, case 15 includes front and back members 15A and 15B, topand bottom members 15C and 15D, and a side member 15E. The remainingsixth side of the parallelepiped geometry of case 15 is open as seen inFIG. 1A. An open chamber 25 is thus formed within case 15 for receivingcomputer components and related structures such as disk drive supportstructure 20.

When installed in housing 15, as seen in FIG. 1B, disk drive supportstructure 20 spans substantially the entire interior surface of frontmember 15A and a substantial portion of the interior of case 15. Supportstructure 20 is anchored at several locations within case 15 and isconfigured to provide case 15 with additional structural integrity aswill be discussed later in more detail.

Disk drive support structure 20 is fabricated from electricallyinsulative, substantially structurally rigid material, such aspolycarbonate/ABS plastic, for example. Disk drive support structure 20is illustrated in more detail in the front right side perspective viewof FIG. 2. In the personal computer industry, the term "full height"disk drive is used to describe a particular size of disk drive and theterm "half height" is used to describe a disk drive which exhibits aheight which is approximately half the height of a "full height" diskdrive. Both hard disk drives and floppy disk drives are available ineither full height or half height versions.

Disk drive support structure 20 includes a plurality of bays for housinga plurality of disk drives stacked one atop the other. Morespecifically, structure 20 includes bay C1 and bay C2 which togetherform a bay C. Bay C is capable of housing a single full height diskdrive or two half height disk drives in bays C1 and C2, respectively.Structure 20 further includes a bay D which is substantially similar tobay C. Bay D includes bays D1 and D2. Bay D is capable of housing asingle full height disk drive or two half height disk drives in bays D1and D2, respectively. Disk drive support structure 20 also includes ahalf height bay E as shown in FIG. 2 in this particular embodiment ofthe invention. Disk drive support structure 20 still further includesbays A and B in the upper portion of structure 20 as shown in FIG. 2.

In more detail, disk drive support structure 20 includes substantiallyparallel side walls 30 and 35. Structure 20 further includes a frontwall 40 which is integrally molded to and which extends between sidewalls 30 and 35 as shown in FIG. 2 and in the right side rearperspective view of structure 20 shown in FIG. 3. Returning again toFIG. 2, it is seen that front wall 40 of structure 20 includes aplurality of openings 45, 50 and 55 which are aligned with bays C, D andE to provide paths through which disk drives can be installed in suchchambers. Bays A and B have similar openings. From FIG. 2, it is seenthat bays A, B, C, D and E are formed between substantially parallelshelves 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D, 20E and 20F which extend between side walls30 and 35 of structure 20. Shelf 20F is the topmost shelf of shelves20A-20F. Shelves 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D, 20E and 20F are stacked one abovethe other in spaced apart relationship to form bays A, B, C, D and Etherebetween.

The periphery of front wall 40 includes a plurality of bolt holes 60 toenable disk drive support structure 20 to be securely bolted to theinterior of case 15 as will now be described. As seen in FIG. 1B, frontmember 15A of case 15 includes a plurality of bolt receiving holes 65which are aligned with corresponding bolt holes 60 in structure 20 whenstructure 20 is situated within case 15. Bolts 70 are then located inrespective hole pairs 60-65 and fixed with appropriated fasteners tohold front wall 40 of structure 20 firmly to front member 15A of housing15,

Returning again to FIG. 3, it is seen that disk drive support structure20 includes four mounting pads 70, each including a respective hole 75.When structure 20 is situated in the interior of case 15 as in FIG. 1B,holes 75 of structure 20 align with corresponding respective threadedholes 80 in side member 15E. To increase clarity, a portion of sidemember 15E adjacent a representative hole 80 is shown in FIG. 3 atapproximately four times actual size.

A left side perspective view of structure 20 is shown in FIG. 4 to moreclearly depict mounting pads 70, holes 75 and side wall 35 of disk drivesupport structure 20. Respective threaded bolts 85 are screwed througheach of hole pairs 75-80 to securely hold side wall 35 of structure 20to side member 15E of case 15.

As seen in FIG. 1B, drive support structure 20 extends across themajority of the interior surface of front member 15A both laterally andlongitudinally. In this particular embodiment, support structure 20extends along the entirety of the interior surface of front member 15A.Moreover, support structure 20 is fixedly or rigidly attached to twosubstantially perpendicular members of case 15, namely front member 15Aand side member 15E, as describe above.

When disk drive support structure 20 is mounted within case 15 in thismanner, the structural integrity of case 15 is substantially increased.Support structure 20 houses and supports multiple disk drives whilesimultaneously improving the substantial structural integrity of case15. More specifically, the multi-chamber nature of structure 20 acts toreinforce case 15 and enhances the rigidity of case 15 against momentsof force which would otherwise cause case 15 to undesirably twist anddeform.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged and exploded right side perspective view of thelower bay C portion of disk drive support structure 20, the entirety ofwhich was shown earlier in FIG. 2. Bay D is substantially identical tobay C and thus the following discussion of bay C will apply to bay D aswell. Half height drives or full height drives generally have respectiveplastic rails mounted to the two opposed side surfaces thereof to permitsuch drives to slide in and out of fixed, non-removable rail guideswhich are typically situated within a computer. It is desirable to havemaximum flexibility in the choice of placement of one full height or twohalf height drives in bays C and D. Moreover, it is desirable to providea reasonable amount of clearance or sway space between the sides of ahard disk mounted in a bay to avoid or reduce shock damage to such harddrives.

Bay C is provided with removable drive support guides 90 as shown inFIG. 5. The upper portion of bay C includes support guide receivingchannels 95A and 95B located in side walls 35 and 30, respectively, eachof which is capable of receiving a respective removable support guide 90therein as will be discussed subsequently in more detail. The lowerportion of bay C includes rail receiving guides 100A and 100B which areintegrally formed into side walls 35 and 30, respectively, as shown inFIG. 5. A pair of guide rails (described later) are mounted on theopposed sides of a full height or half height drive such that the railscan be slid into receiving guides 100A and 100B. Support guides 90mounted in guide receiving channels 95A and 95B can receive a halfheight drive with rails mounted as described above providing a fullheight drive is not mounted in receiving guides 100A and 100Btherebelow.

In this particular embodiment, support guides 90 are substantiallyrectangular in shape and include opposed ends 105 and 100, and furtherinclude opposed sides 115 and 120. Guide receiving channels 95A and 95Binclude slots 125 and 130 laterally oriented along portions of suchchannels for facilitating the attachment of support guides 90 to sidewalls 35 and 30 as will now be described.

Slot 125 includes opposed ends 125A and 125B. Slot 130 includes opposedends 130A and 130B. Support guides 90 include flexible snaps or latches135 and 140 which are spaced apart by a predetermined distanceapproximately equal to the length of slots 125 and 130. For purposes ofexample, the placement of a support guide 90 in slot 130 will now bediscussed although it should be appreciated that a support guide 90 canbe situated in slot 125 as well using the same technique. A pair ofstops 145 and 150 are situated adjacent latch 135 as shown in FIG. 5.Similarly, a pair of stops 155 and 160 are situated adjacent latch 140.When support guide 90 is placed in position in channel 95B, stop pair145-150 is situated adjacent slot end 130A and stop pair 155-160 issituated adjacent slot end 130B so as to prevent substantial lateralmovement of support guide 90 within channel 95B.

Latch 135 includes a flexible arm 135A extending from guide 90. A catchor protrusion 135B is situated at the end of arm 135A such that as stoppair 145-150 of guide 90 is placed in slot 130, arm 135A deflects untilprotrusion 135B catches and holds to slot end 130A. In a similar manner,latch 140 includes a flexible arm 140A extending from guide 90 and acatch or protrusion 140B at the end of arm 140. Arm 140B similarlydeflects when stop pair 155-160 of guide 90 is placed in slot 130.Protrusion 140B then catches on end 130B to hold guide 90 in position inslot 130 of channel 95B. From the above, it will be appreciated thatlatches 135 and 140 are living snap members which are integrally formedinto guide 90. Support guide 90 is easily removed from channel 95B bypulling guide 90 away from slot 130 with sufficient force to deflectarms 135A and 140A and overcome the snap action of latches 135 and 140.

Side 115 of guide 90 includes a channel 165 for receiving a disk driverail or other sliding structure. When drive support guides 90 areremovably mounted in channels 95A and 95B as described above, a halfheight disk drive having two rails mounted on the respective sidesthereof as described earlier is readily mounted in the upper portion ofbay C by sliding such rails into the channels 165 of support guides 90.

To facilitate the sliding of a rail into channel 165 of support guide90, guide 90 includes a pair of protrusions 175 and 180 which are flaredapart at ends 175A and 180A to enhance the alignment of a rail withinchannel 165 as the rail initially approaches and engages channel 165.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the front portion of personalcomputer assembly 10 which demonstrates the different drive combinationswhich drive support structure 20 is capable of housing. To promoteclarity, the lower portion of drive C is designated bay C1 and the upperportion of bay C is designated bay C2. In a like manner, the lowerportion of drive D is designated bay D1 and the upper portion of bay Dis designated bay D2.

At this particular stage in disk drive technology, most disk drivesexhibit one of two different standard heights (full height or halfheight) and one of two different standard widths (5.25 inch or 3.5inch). Disk drive support structure 20 supports all of these types ofdrives as seen in the examples portrayed in FIG. 6. While bays C and Dof structure 20 are full height bays, bays C1, C2, D1 and D2 are halfheight bays.

To accommodate a full height drive 185 in bay C, snap-in support guides90 are removed from channels 95A and 95B (not fully shown) in upper bayC2. Then, rails 190 and 190', situated on the opposed sides of drive185, are slid into receiving guides 100B and 100A, respectively, as seenmore clearly in the front view of chamber C shown in FIG. 7.

To accommodate two half height 3.5 inch drives 195 in bay C, snap-insupport guides 90 are installed in channels 95A and 95B of upper bay C2.As seen in FIG. 6 and more clearly in the front view of chamber C inFIG. 8, each of drives 195 is installed in an adapter tray 200 whichincludes integral conductive side rails 205 and 210 as will be discussedlater in detail. In lower bay C1, side rails 205 and 210 slide intoreceiving guides 100A and 100B. In upper bay C2, side rails 205 and 210slide into respective channels 165 of support guides 90.

To accommodate two half height 5.25 inch drives 215 in bay C, snap-insupport guides 90 are installed in channels 95A and 95B of upper bay C2in the same manner shown in FIG. 8. Returning momentarily to FIG. 6, apair of rails 220 is attached to the respective opposite sides of drives215, only one rail 220 of which is visible on each drive 215 of FIG. 6.As seen in the front plan view of bay C in FIG. 9, in lower bay C1,rails 220 of drive 215 slide into receiving guides 100A and 100B. Inupper bay C2, rails 220 of remaining drive 215 slide into respectivechannels 165 of support guides 90.

Returning again to FIG. 6, it is noted that bay D is substantiallysimilar to bay C. Thus, bay D can likewise accommodate a full heightdisk drive 185, two half height disk drives 215 or two adaptertray-mounted disk drives 195 in a manner similar to bay C.

As indicated in FIG. 6, bay E can accommodate either a single halfheight drive 230 which is similar to drive 215 or alternativelyaccommodate a single adapter tray-mounted half height drive 235 which issimilar to drive 195. The rails on either drive 230 or drive 235 aresituated in respective rail receiving guides 225A and 225B (depicted inFIG. 10) which are substantially similar to rail receiving guides 100Aand 100B of bays C and D.

As indicated in FIG. 6, each of bays A and B are capable of receiving adisk drive 245. As shown in FIG. 10, a pair of disk drive mounts 250 and255 are situated on shelf 20A of bay A. Mounts 250 and 255 are invertedL structures facing opposite directions. Mounts 250 and 255 include armportions 250A and 255A. Two mating flanges (not shown) attached to diskdrive 245 are slid into the region formed between arm 250A and shelf20A, and the region formed between arm 255A and shelf 20A, respectively,to hold drive 245 to shelf 20A in bay A.

Bay B also includes disk drive mounts 250 and 255 on shelf 20B thereof.Mounts 250 and 255 in bay B are capable of holding a disk drive 245 toshelf 20B in the same manner described above. Other electricalequipment, such as switches, keylocks, displays and indicator lights,for example, or other devices may be installed in the region above shelf20F and between side walls 30 and 35.

Although in the discussion of disk drive support structure 20 above, themounting and housing of full height, half height, 5.25 inch and 3.5 inchdisk drives have been discussed, those skilled in the art willappreciate that the present invention is not limited to these particularheights and sizes. Rather, the dimensions of structure 20 may be readilymodified to accommodate disk drives of other sizes as well. Moreover,although in the above description, support structure 20 has beenreferred to as a disk drive support structure, structure 20 can supportand house other electrical devices as well, for example, tape drives,removable hard disks, optical drives and the like.

FIG. 11 is a front right side perspective view of the disk drive adaptertray 200 which was mentioned earlier in the discussion of FIG. 8. Tray200 is used to adapt a disk drive or other device which is substantiallynarrower than bays C, D or E to fit in such bays. As discussed earlier,bays C, D and E are sufficiently wide to accommodate 5.25 inch mediatherein. Adapter tray 200 permits a narrower media device such as a 3.5inch drive to be installed between rail receiving guide pairs 100A/100Band 225A/225B or between support guides installed in channels 95A/95B,these locations being shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. 10.

Returning again to FIG. 11, it is seen that adapter tray 200 exhibits asubstantially rectangular framelike shape. Tray 200 is fabricated fromelectrically conductive material. Adapter tray 200 includes side members260 and 265, each having a substantially flat base 270 and 275,respectively. Base 270 includes opposed ends 270A and 270B. Base 275includes opposed ends 275A and 275B. A connecting bar 280 is integrallyformed from the same material as side members 260 and 265. Connectingbar 280 extends between ends 270A and 275A of bases 270 and 275.Connecting bar 280 is bent downward to form an angle of approximately 90degrees with respect to the plane of bases 270 and 275. A connecting bar285 joins ends 270B and 275B of bases 270 and 275. Connecting bar 285 isformed integrally from the same material as bases 270 and 275.

A drive carriage member 290 is joined to base 260 via arms 295 and 300.Carriage member 290 extends downwardly from base 270 as shown in FIG.11. Another drive carriage member 305 (partially shown in FIG. 11) whichis substantially similar to carriage member 290 extends downwardly frombase 275. Carriage members 290 and 305 include through-holes 310 whichalign with corresponding holes 315 in disk drive 195 when drive 195 issituated between carriage members 290 and 305. When drive 195 is sosituated, screws 318 are placed in through holes 310 and holes 315 tohold drive 195 in position within adapter tray 200 thus forming anelectrical connection between drive 195 and adapter tray 200.

Adapter tray 200 includes side rails 320 and 325 which are integrallyformed into bases 270 and 275, respectively. Side rails 320 and 325 areformed from the same electrically conductive material as bases 270 and275. Side rail 320 includes opposed ends 320A and 320B. Side rail 325includes opposed ends 325A and 325B. As seen in FIG. 11, side rails 320and 325 are bent upwardly with respect to bases 270 and 275,respectively. Moreover, side rails 320 and 325 are orientedsubstantially perpendicularly to bases 270 and 275, respectively.

Connecting member 280 acts as a convenient handle for the user to graspwhen installing adapter tray 200 within a disk drive bay. To actuallyplace adapter tray 200/drive 195 in a disk drive bay such as bay C1, forexample, the user grasps connecting member (handle) 280 and slides siderails 320 and 325 into rail receiving guides 100A and 100B,respectively. Side rails 320 and 325 are spaced apart by a predetermineddistance selected such that rails 320 and 325 can slidably engage andride in rail receiving guides 100A and 100B.

FIG. 12 is a back side perspective view of a ground spring 330 which ismountable on a removable side rail 190 of FIG. 6 (or 220 of FIG. 6) topermit grounding of a drive 185 of FIG. 7 (or drive 215 of FIG. 9) whensuch drive is mounted in the non-conductive drive support structure 20of FIG. 1A. FIG. 13 is provided to illustrate the spatial relationshipof ground spring 330, removable side rail 190 and drive 185.

Returning again to FIG. 12, ground spring 330 includes a flat main bodyor shank 335 having opposed back and front surfaces 335B and 335A,respectively, and further including opposed ends 335C and 335D. Groundspring 330 is fabricated from relatively thin electrically conductivematerial such as stainless steel, although other conductive materialssuch as beryllium copper, phosphor bronze, or high tensile strengthspring steel may be employed. As seen in FIG. 12, ground spring 330includes a wrap-around spring portion 340 integrally formed at springmain body end 335C. Wrap-around spring portion 340 includes a flange 345which tapers inwardly toward main body 335.

A side spring contact 350 is integrally formed at the opposite main bodyend 335D. Side spring contact 350 is a flange which slopes away fromspring main body 335 at flange portion 350A and then bends back towardmain body 335 at flange portion 350B so as to form an apex 355 betweenflange portions 350A and 350B. It is this apex 355 which is used forelectrical contact to an electrically conductive drive support chassisshould such a chassis ever be used in place of the electricallynon-conductive drive support structure 20 described herein.

A drive mounting screw receiving opening 360 is situated in main body335 as shown in FIG. 12 and in the exploded perspective view of thedrive 185, rail 190 and ground spring 330 assembly shown in FIG. 14. Apair of teeth or tangs 365 and 370 (see FIG. 12) are situated adjacentopening 360 such that when ground spring 330 is mounted on rail 190 andscrewed to metallic drive side surface 185A, tangs 365 and 370 dig intodrive side surface 185A to form an electrical connection betweengrounding spring 330 and drive 185 as indicated in FIG. 14.

To enable a better appreciation of the operation of ground spring 330which is mountable in removable rail 190, rail 190 is now described inmore detail using the exploded perspective view of FIG. 14. Rail 190 isfabricated from electrically non-conductive material such as plasticmaterials. Rail 190 is a substantially flat strip including opposed ends190A and 190B, and further includes opposed side surfaces 190C and 190D.Rail 190 includes as opening 375 appropriately shaped to receive sidespring contact 350 therein when ground spring 330 is installed on rail190. For example, opening 375 may be rectangular in shape. Rail 190includes an opening 380 which is appropriately shaped to receive flange345 of wrap-around spring portion 340 when ground spring 330 isinstalled on rail 190. Rail 190 further includes a recessed portion 385which wraps around rail end 190A from opening 380 on rail side surface190C to opening 380 on opposite rail side surface 190D. Recessed portion385 receives wrap-around spring portion 340 therein.

Rail 190 further includes a screw hole 390 which aligns with opening 360of ground spring 330 when ground spring 330 is mounted on rail 190. Asshown in FIG. 14, rail 190 includes another screw hole 395 forfacilitating mounting of rail 190 to drive 185. Drive 185 includes screwholes 400 and 405 which align with rail screw holes 390 and 395,respectively, when rail 190 is mounted on drive 185.

To actually mount ground spring 330 on rail 190, flange 345 is pulledapart from main body 335 against spring action a sufficient distance topermit flange 345 to slide along the recessed portion 385 on rail sidesurface 190C until flange 345 engages opening 380 and wrap aroundportion 340 rests in recessed portion 385. At substantially the sametime, spring contact 350 is placed in opening 375. A screw 410 is theninserted through hole 390, opening 360 and drive hole 400. Screw 410 isthen turned until rail 190/spring 330 is held tightly to drive 185. Ascrew 415 is inserted through hole 395 and threaded into drive hole 405and is similarly tightened.

FIG. 15 is a bottom cross sectional view of ground spring 330 installedon a rail 190 which is mounted on drive 185, such drive 185 beinginstalled in non-conductive drive support structure 20 within housing15. The cross section shown in FIG. 15 is taken along section line D--Dof FIG. 7 and additionally shows a portion of an electrically conductivedrive retainer 420 in contact with ground spring 330 and housing 15. Inthis manner drive 185 is electrically connected to case 15 to establisha ground for drive 185. Thus ground spring is usable in two differentmodes, first as a way to provide a connection between drive 185 and case15 via wrap around portion 340 when a non-conductive drive supportstructure such as structure 20 is used to house a drive 185, andalternatively as a way to provide a connection between drive 185 and aconductive drive support structure (not shown) via spring contact 350which would contact such a conductive drive support structure if used inplace of support structure 20. Retainer 420 is discussed later in moredetail.

As shown partially in the cross sectional view of drive 185 and adjacentstructures in FIG. 16, another ground spring 330/rail 190' assemblysubstantially symmetrical with respect to the ground spring 330/rail 190assembly is installed on the remaining opposed side surface 185A in amanner similar to that described above. This cross sectional view ofFIG. 16 is taken along section line E--E of FIG. 7 and additionallyshows a portion of drive retainer 420. An electro-magnetic interference(EMI)/radio frequency interference (RFI) shielding spring structure 425is situated between case 15 and drive support structure 20 and furthercontacts both conductive retainer 420 and wrap around portion 340. Inthis manner, drive 185 is coupled to grounded case 15 and retainer 420is coupled to grounded case 15. The nature of this grounding arrangementis now discussed in more detail.

FIG. 17 is a right side perspective view of shielding spring structure425 which is fabricated from a flat strip 430 of electrically conductivematerial. A plurality of dual spring structures designated 425(C1),425(C2), 425(D1), 425(D2) and 425(E) extend from one side of strip 430.The alpha-numeric designation appearing in parentheses in each of thepreceding spring structure designations denotes the corresponding drivebay into which the spring structure is located as will be discussedlater in more detail. Shielding spring structure 425 is fabricated fromthe same types of electrically conductive material as grounding spring330 described earlier. Dual spring structures 425(C1), 425(C2), 425(D1),425(D2) and 425(E) are substantially identical and thus only dual springstructure 425(C1) will be discussed now for purposes of example.

Dual spring structure 425(C1) includes a first spring member 435 havinga contact plate 440 which integrally extends from spring strip 430.Prior to installation of spring structure 425 in case 15 and prior toloading of spring structure 425, contact plate 440 is oriented at anangle of approximately 95 degrees with respect to spring strip 430. Atthe end of contact plate 440 most distant from spring strip 430, springstructure 425(C1) is bent at an angle of approximately 90 degrees backtoward spring strip 430 as shown in FIG. 17 to form a flange 445 whichis oriented substantially parallel to spring strip 430.

A second spring member 450 is punched out of the portion of first springmember 435 which forms contact plate 440 as seen in FIG. 17 and as seenmore clearly in the left side perspective view of spring shieldingstructure 425 shown in FIG. 18. Second spring member 450 includes acentral spring arm 455 which extends from spring strip 430 as seen inFIG. 18. Spring arm 455 includes opposed ends 455A and 455B of whichends 455A joins spring strip 430. A pair of wing members 460 and 465extend away from spring arm end 455B as illustrated in FIG. 18. Wingmembers 460 and 465 may contact plate 440 which acts as a stop againstfurther travel of wing members 460/465 toward plate 440. Second springmember 455 deflects in the direction indicated by arrow 470 in FIG. 18and arrow 475 in FIG. 17 when placed in contact with retainer 420 ofFIG. 16 as discussed later.

Shielding spring structure 425 is installed in position on drive supportstructure 20 as indicated in FIG. 1A with each of dual spring structures425(C1), 425(C2), 425(D1), 425(D2) and 425(E) being inserted into acorresponding one of bays C1, C2, D1, D2 and E, respectively. Springstrip 430 of FIG. 17 includes a guide hole 480 through which a guidepost 485 of FIG. 2 extends when spring strip 430 is mounted on drivesupport structure 20. Drive support structure 20 further includes guideposts 490 and 495 which are substantially similar to guide post 485.Returning again to FIG. 17, it is seen that spring strip 430 ofshielding spring structure 425 further includes holes 500, 505 and 510which are aligned with corresponding holes in drive support structure 20when shielding spring structure 425 is mounted thereon. Screws (notshown) are screwed through these shielding spring holes 500, 505 and 510and into the corresponding holes in drive support structure 20 to holdshielding spring structure 425 to drive support structure 20.

Before completing the discussion of spring shield 425, it is helpful todiscuss drive retainer 420 which aids in holding any drives in placewhich are installed in bays C, D and E. Referring now to FIG. 19A, diskdrive retainer 420 is shown in more detail. Retainer 420 is fabricatedfrom electrically conductive material and is generally rectangularlyframelike in appearance. Retainer 420 includes substantially parallelside support members 515 and 520 which are joined at their respectivetops by a connecting member 525. Support members 515 and 520 are joinedat their respective bottom portions by a connecting member 530 which isappropriately dimensioned to cover drive C.

Retainer 420 includes contact tabs 535(C1), 535(C2), 535(D1), 535(D1)and 535(E) which respectively contact second spring members 450 ofspring structures 425(C1), 425(C2), 425(D1), 425(D1) and 425(E) of FIG.17 when spring shield 425 and retainer 420 are installed on drivesupport structure 20. Although not visible in the view of retainer 420shown in FIG. 19A, contact tabs 540(C1), 540(C2),540(D1), 540(D1) and540(E) are situated on side support member 520 in symmetrical fashionabout axis 545 with respect to contact tabs 535(C1), 535(C2),535(D1),535(D1) and 535(E) which are shown on side support member 515. Contacttabs 540(C1), 540(C2),540(D1), 540(D1) and 540(E) are shown in the rightside perspective view of retainer 420 of FIG. 19B.

The electrical connections achieved by shielding spring 425 are nowdiscussed with reference to FIG. 16 which depicts a full height drive185 installed in a bay in drive support structure 20. Shielding spring425 connects case 15 to both drive retainer 420 and full height drive185. The arrangement shown in FIG. 16 results in three electricalcontact zones 550, 555 and 560. More specifically, since spring strip425 of shield spring 420 is sandwiched between drive support structure20 and housing -5, housing 15 is thus connected to shield spring 425 atcontact zone 550. Since connecting tab 535 of retainer 420 iselectrically connected to second spring member 450 of shield spring 425at contact zone 555, retainer 420 is thus grounded to case 15. Moreover,since wrap-around portion 340 of grounding spring 330 is connected tofirst spring member 435 at contact zone 560, drive 185 is thus groundedto case 15.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 20, a drive 195 mounted in adapter tray200 with integral conductive side rails 200/205 is installed in drivesupport structure 20 in place of the drive 185 discussed above. In thisinstance, the electrical grounding connections are made as follows.Retainer 420 is connected to housing 15 via contact zones 550 and 555 inthe same manner as in FIG. 16 discussed above. However, conductiveintegral side rail 205 of adapter tray 200 is connected to first springmember 435 at contact zone 565. Thus, adapter tray 200 and drive 195therein are grounded to case 15.

As seen in FIG. 21, to further enhance shielding in personal computerassembly 10, electrically conductive bezels 570, 571, 572, 573 and 574are mounted in retainer 420 respectively at bays D1, D2, E, B and A,respectively, if no drives are contained therein. By employing thegrounding and shielding structures described above with reference mainlyto FIG.'s 16-21, both EMI and RFI emanations radiating from within case15 are significantly reduced.

Before discussing the manner in which retainer 420 and bezel 575 of FIG.19A cooperate to hold respective drives in bays C1, C2, D1, D2 and E, itis helpful to discuss drive support structure 20 and retainer 420further. Referring to FIG. 2, it seen that drive support structure 20includes snap members 580 and 585. Snap members 580 and 585 are used toinitially hold retainer 420 to housing 15 before bezel 575 is attachedto and mounted on retainer 420/housing 15 as will be discussed later inmore detail.

To more clearly show the shape of snap members 580 and 585 a crosssectional view of a portion of drive support structure 20 of FIG. 2taken along section line B--B is shown in FIG. 22. Snap member 585 isthus depicted in FIG. 22. A portion of housing 15 is shown adjacentdrive support structure 20 in FIG. 22. Snap member 585 is substantiallyJ-shaped and includes an end 585A which is integrally attached to drivesupport structure 20 as shown. Snap member 585 further includes an end585B which extends through an opening 590 in drive support 20 andhousing 15. Drive support structure 20 includes a similar opening 595adjacent snap member 580 as shown in FIG. 2. Returning again to FIG. 22,it is seen that snap member 585 includes a ramp-like guide 600 whichdeflects downward about curved portion 585C when member 580 engagesretainer 420. A recessed portion or catch 605 is located at the upperend of ramp 600, the operation of which will be discussed later in moredetail. Snap member 580 is substantially similar to snap member 585.

Referring now to FIG. 21 and as shown more clearly in FIG. 19B, retainer420 includes holes, openings or slots 610 and 615 in side members 515and 520 which are aligned with corresponding holes 595 and 590,respectively, in drive support structure 420 when retainer 420 isinstalled on case 15 and drive support structure 20.

The installation of retainer 420 on case 15/drive support structure 20is now discussed. FIG. 23 shows a cross section of housing 15/drivesupport structure 20 of FIG. 1B taken along section line A--A togetherwith a corresponding cross section of retainer 420. Referring now toinset view 23A, which is a magnified view of the lower portion ofretainer 420 that is first installed in the base of housing 15, it isseen that the lowermost portion of retainer connecting member 530includes a plurality of tabs 620, one of which is shown in FIG. 23 inset23A. Four of such tabs 620 are shown in the perspective view of retainer420 in FIG. 21.

To install retainer 420, tabs 620 of retainer 420 are placed above andadjacent a lip member 625 in the base of case 15 as seen in FIG. 23inset 23A. Lip member 625 is also shown in the view of enclosure 15shown in FIG. 1B. Retainer 420 is then lifted slightly upward in thedirection of arrow 630 and is rotated in the direction of arrow 635about the pivot point 640 formed where tabs 620 contact member 625 ofhousing 15. Retainer 420 is rotated in the direction of arrow 635 untilretainer 420 comes into contact with guide posts 485 and 490 asindicated in the cross sectional view of FIG. 24 and inset 24. Guideposts 485 and 490 are seen more clearly in the perspective view of drivesupport structure 20 of FIG. 2. As indicated in FIG. 24, guide posts 485and 490 extend beyond housing 15 through respective holes (not shown indetail) in housing 15 toward retainer 420. Guide post 485 includes atapered end 485A as seen in FIG. 24 which is now discussed. Guide post490 similarly includes a such a tapered end.

FIG. 24 is the same cross sectional view as FIG. 23 except that furtherprogress in the rotation of retainer 420 is shown in FIG. 24 and insetviews 24A and 24B. As seen in FIG. 21, retainer 420 includes holes 645and 650 (shown in dashed lines) for engaging guide posts 485 and 490,respectively. Returning again to FIG. 24, as rotation of retainer 420continues such that hole 645 engages the tapered end 485A of guide post485 as indicated in inset view 24B, hole 645 rides up on the tapered end485A to lift retainer 420 up in the direction of arrow 655. The samedynamics occur as retainer hole 650 engages guide post 490. Retainer 420is thus appropriately positioned and aligned on housing 15.

After retainer 420 engages guide posts 485 and 490 in the abovedescribed manner, rotation of retainer 420 in the direction indicated byarrow 635 of FIG. 24 is continued until retainer 420 completely mateswith housing 15/drive support structure 20 as shown in FIG. 25. FIG. 25is the same cross sectional view as FIG. 24 except that completion ofprogress in the rotation of retainer 420 is shown in FIG. 25 and insetviews 25A, 25B and 25C thereof.

As seen in FIG. 25, the upper portion of the case 15/drive supportstructure 20 assembly includes a guide post 495 which is shown in moredetail in inset view 25A and which was shown earlier in FIG. 2. When thepivotal rotation of retainer 420 toward the housing 15/drive supportstructure 20 assembly is nearly complete, guide post 495 passes througha hole or opening 665 (also see FIG. 21) in the upper portion ofretainer 420.

Similarly, as seen in FIG. 25 inset view 25B, when retainer 420 is fullyinstalled on the housing 15/support structure 20 assembly, retaineropening 645 has fully engaged guide post 485. Guidepost 490 (see FIG. 2)is similarly engaged by retainer opening 650 (not shown in FIG. 25, butshown in dashed lines in FIG. 21 and shown in more detail in FIG. 19B.In this manner, the alignment of retainer 420 on the housing 15/supportstructure 20 assembly is completed.

FIG. 25 inset 25C shows the orientation of tabs 620 of retainer 420 withrespect to lip member 625 of housing 15 when installation of retainer420 is complete.

As seen in FIG. 25, taken in conjunction with FIG. 22, when the rotationof the upper portion of retainer 420 toward the housing 15/supportstructure 20 assembly is nearly complete, retainer opening 610 engagesramp 600 of snap member 580 causing ramp 600 to be deflected downward inthe direction of arrow 660. As rotation of retainer 420 continues,opening 610 passes over ramp 600 and snap member 580 pops back up orsnaps back up in the direction of arrow 670. When this occurs, latch 605becomes latched to retainer 420 adjacent opening 610. It is noted thatsnap member 580 is substantially similar to snap member 585 shown inFIG. 22 and that like numbers are used to indicate identical componentsof snap members 580 and 585. Both of snap members 580 and 585 act as"living snaps" in that once opening 610 passes by latch 605, snap member580 snaps back to its original undeflected position of its own accord.Snap member 585 shown in FIG. 2 operates in a manner substantiallysimilar to that described above to engage a respective retainer opening615 which is partially visible in FIG. 21 and which is shown in moredetail in FIG. 19B.

When installation of retainer 420 is complete on the housing 15/supportstructure 20 assembly, the disk drives which are installed in bays C1,C2, D1, D2 and E are held fixedly in position in these bays by retainercontact tabs 535(C1), 535(C2), 535(D1), 535(D1) and 535(E) which act asrespective stops against movement by the respective drives at the leftsides thereof. Reference is now made to FIG. 16 to illustrate how one ofsuch tabs 535 contacts wrap-around portion 340 of grounding spring 330to prevent forward motion of rail 190' and drive 185 attached thereto.In addition to the stopping action provided by retainer contact tabs535(C1), 535(C2), 535(D1), 535(D1) and 535(E) described above, retainercontact tabs 540(C1), 540(C2), 540(D1), 540(D1) and 540(E) (shown indetail in FIG. 19B) provide a similar stopping action to the right sideof the drives in bays C1, C2, D1, D2 and E as seen in FIG. 15.

The arrangement for grounding the right side of retainer 420 to case 15is now discussed. As seen in FIG. 1A, housing 15 includes a flange 675which extends from top member 15C to bottom member 15D at the rightmostportion of housing 15. An electrically conductive grounding strip 680 issituated on flange 675. Grounding strip 680 is coextensive with flange675 and is formed such that when retainer 420 is installed on thehousing 15/drive support structure 20 assembly, the right side ofretainer 420 is electrically coupled to housing 15 via conductivegrounding strip 680. The structure and operation of grounding strip 680is discussed in more detail in the copending patent application entitled"Self Contained Grounding Strip", by Cooke et al., filed Oct. 27, 1989,Ser. No. 07/428,140, assigned to the instant assignee, such applicationbeing incorporated herein by reference.

It is noted that prior to installation of bezel 575 on retainer 420, asignificant amount of force is exerted outwardly on catches 605 of snapmembers 580 and 585 by the drives installed in bays C, D and E whileretainer 420 holds such drives in their respective bays. Theinstallation of bezel 575 on the assembly formed by retainer 420,housing 15 and drive support structure 20 relieves this force andtension. Reference is now made to the front perspective view of bezel575 is shown in FIG. 19A. Bezel 575 includes side members 575A and 575B,top and bottom members 575C and 575D, and front and back surfaces 575Eand 575F, respectively.

A rear perspective view of bezel 575 is shown in FIG. 26. Bezel 575includes projections 695 and 700 extending from the uppermost portion ofthe rear of bezel 575. Bezel 575 further includes guide posts 705 and710. Bezel 575 also includes resilient snap members 715 and 720extending from the rear thereof.

FIG. 27 is a side view of housing 25/drive support structure 20 whichshows the initial positioning of retainer 420 prior to installation andwhich further shows the positioning of bezel 575 prior to installation.It is noted that retainer 420 pivots about the bottom of housing 15whereas bezel 575 pivots about the top of housing 15. However, retainer420 is installed prior to the installation of bezel 575.

As seen in FIG. 19A and partially in FIG's 25 and 27, retainer 420includes cams or rounded raised regions 685 and 690 on the upperportions of side members 515 and 520, respectively. FIG. 28 shows across sectional side view of a portion of bezel 575, retainer 420 andhousing 15 taken along section line C--C of FIG. 19A. FIG. 28 will beused to illustrate the initial stage of installation of bezel 575 onretainer 420. First, projection 700 is inserted in an opening 725 ofretainer 420 and through an opening 730 of housing 15, such openings 725and 730 being shown in perspective in FIG. 19A. FIG. 19A also showsretainer opening 735 and housing opening 740 which by receivingprojection 695 of bezel 575 perform a similar function to openings 725and 730, respectively. At this stage in the installation of bezel 575,outward force is still being exerted on latch 605 of snap member 580 inthe direction of arrow 740 in FIG. 28. Bezel 575 has not yet relievedthat pressure or force as indicated by latch 605 of snap member 580still being in contact with retainer 420.

Bezel 575 is now rotated about a pivot point 743 in the direction ofarrow 745 toward retainer 420 until rear surface 575F of bezel 575engages cam 685. As the rotation of bezel 575 is continued, rear bezelsurface 575F continues to engage cam 685 so as to push retainer 420inward in the direction of arrow 750 toward housing 15. As the rotationof bezel 575 is continued until rear bezel surface 575F fully engagescam 685 as shown in FIG. 29, this action causes retainer 420 to bepushed away from latch 605 as indicated by the space 755 between latch605 and retainer 420. In this manner, the force which was earlier placedon latch 600 by retainer 420 is relieved.

FIG. 30 is a cross sectional view of the lowermost portion of the bezel575/retainer 420/housing 15/support structure 20 assembly of FIG. 19Aalong section line C--C. As seen in FIG. 30, when bezel 575 is fullyrotated into position on retainer 420 as described above, snap member720 passes through an opening 760 in retainer 420 and through an opening765 in housing 15 so as to latch with a lip 770 adjacent the bottom ofhousing 15. The location of lip 770 is shown in FIG. 19A. Similarly,snap member 715 latches to a corresponding lip 775 (shown in FIG. 19A)after passing through corresponding openings in retainer 420 and housing15 (not shown) which are adjacent to snap member 715 when bezel 575 isfully installed.

As bezel 575 is rotated and installed on retainer 420 as describedabove, guide post 710 (shown in FIG. 26) passes through opening 780 inretainer 420 (shown in FIG. 19A) and though opening 785 in housing 15(also shown in FIG. 19A). Guide post 705 passes through similar openingsin retainer 420 and housing 15. Guide posts 705 and 710 aid in thealignment of bezel 575 while bezel 575 is rotated and installed onretainer 420 as described above.

The foregoing describes a drive mounting arrangement which permits theuser's choice of either a single full height drive or two half heightdrives to be mounted in a computer bay. Moreover, the mountingarrangement of the invention reduces the incidence of shock damage orinterference fit damage in drives or other devices installed in computerbays.

While only certain preferred features of the invention have been shownby way of illustration, many modifications and changes will occur tothose skilled in the art. It is, therefore, to be understood that thepresent claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changeswhich fall within the true spirit of the invention.

We claim:
 1. A drive mounting structure for use in a computer to receiverail-mounted drives therein comprising:a frame including a bay adaptedto receive therein one first height drive or two second height driveswhich exhibit a lesser height than said first height drive, said firstand second height drives each including first and second opposed sideson which respective side rails are situated, said bay including firstand second opposed side walls situated in spaced apart relationship;first and second stationary rail receiving guides integrally formed intosaid first and second side walls, respectively, to mate with the siderails of said first height disk drive; said first and second side wallsincluding respective first and second guide receiving channelsintegrally formed therein; said first and second side walls includingfirst and second slots laterally situated along a portion of said firstand second guide receiving channels respectively, said first and secondslots being spaced apart from said first and second stationary railreceiving guides, respectively, by a predetermined distance, and firstand second removable rail guides each including a rail receiving grooveformed integrally therein along a lengthwise dimension thereof, eachfurther including a flexible latching member for removably attachingsaid first and second removable guides to said first and second sidewalls, respectively, at said first and second slots in the first andsecond guide receiving channels, whereby two second height drives aresituable in said bay when said first and second removable rail guidesare attached to said first and second side walls, respectively, one ofsaid two second height drives being situable between said removable railguide and the other of said two second height drives being situablebetween said first and second stationary rail receiving guides, andalternatively, said first height drive being situable in said baybetween said first and second stationary rail receiving guides when saidfirst and second removable rail guides are removed from said first andsecond side walls, respectively.
 2. The drive mounting structure ofclaim 1 wherein said first and second slots include first and secondends, and said first removable rail guide includes first and secondprotrusions extending therefrom in spaced apart relationship to engagethe first and second ends of said first slot, and said second removablerail guide includes first and second protrustions extending therefrom inspaced apart relationship to engage the first and second ends of saidsecond slot.